Thank you! If given some time I usually can get a good vision to create some cool stuff.

 

So after the cracked head incident I decided I would pull them, get them inspected and the crack repaired, then look at getting a better set of heads and freshen up the engine with rings and bearings while it’s down and apart. So out it came! #ad
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While the engine block was at the machine shop getting cleaned up, the machinist called me and said he found 5 cracks in my block next to the head bolt holes. This wasn’t good news, but let me know why my head cracked. So here I am, only 50 miles of runtime on a setup I’ve worked 2 years on and it’s over just like that. I’m faced with buying and machining a factory 400 block, buying a dart block for more than I wanted to spend, the heads had already been bought by someone else since I wanted to upgrade. The price of everything was adding up quickly and it really took the wind out of my sails. I decided to just let the truck sit for a bit and I’ll figure something out, possibly buying a mild engine just to get it on the road again.

Fast forward a year and a half and I get a call from a friend who tells me he knows of a 5.3 LS I could get for cheap, like $350 cheap. I thought wel the LS route could be the answer to my questions and get this truck on the road sooner than I expected. So off I went and brought it home. #ad

 

Get the engine stripped down a bit, built myself a lift plate, go to drop it in and the notched crossmember I had for the sbc pan still doesn’t clear the 5.3 truck pan. Looked at oil pans quick that would fit the swap and decided I’m not paying that much for an oil pan when the stock one is perfectly fine. So I did what I’ve seen done on a lot of s10 build...just cut the crossmember out! Wishing I had done this the first go around. So much room now! #ad
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Based off the last picture in the previous post you already know what’s next...

 

It's TURBY TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Funny how a blown engine can completely change a builds trajectory. Nice work!

 

Once the engine was in it sat around for another year, a little loss of interest and resources sideline it a bit. One day I came across a YouTube video and after some research realized how well the factory manifolds could be utilized. I had ever even looked into LS stuff before this so was mainly trying to learn in the down time. I liked the way the build in the video worked the manifolds to fit in his 1st Gen s10 and decided to take a whack at trying it myself.

I first cut some 2.5” exhaust pipe and marked where I wanted it to go, then slowly started trimming away at everything to mate it all together. The passenger side was a little easier since it just had to be taken back since I planned to not have the turbo on that side. Once they were set I trimmed the pipe back and welded a flange on them. #ad
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And of course the most popular question for any s10 turbo build, N/A build too for that matter, is how do I get my steering shaft to fit?! On the same video the guy did a pretty cool trick that I also copied. Take a piece of smaller diameter pipe. Trace where your shaft comes across the manifold and cut that section out of your manifold. Lay your piece of pipe in the cutout portion and trace the cut. Then cut the marked piece out of the pipe and lay it inverted into the hole in the manifold. Since the factory manifold as are really thick, this piece hardly intrudes on the inside of the manifold and since it’s rounded I would never be concerned about loss of flow either. Once smoothed out it turned out great and while tight it does clear my steering shaft. I did shim the steering gearbox to angle it over a bit and then moved the position of the steering shaft over on the firewall slightly too. #ad
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I was waiting for the turbo to enter the plans! Bummer about the first engine but way to stick with it, and the new plan is much cooler so maybe it was good thing?!

Great work so far, and looks like you have the equipment around to make things happen! I like the steering post notch and with all that engine bay airflow under the hood heat shouldnt be a problem.

 

This build is basically the opposite of all mine. I usually build a twin turbo LS, then someone sees it and buys it, then I end up doing 23degree because it’s what I have on hand.
This is looking good, I’m looking forward to seeing the final product

 

Thank you! I don’t plan on running a hood anytime soon and everything minus manifolds will be heat wrapped as well, but doesn’t mean they can’t get wrapped later!

Appreciate the comments! I. Also looking forward to the final product haha, it’s getting closer but also seems so far away.

 

So trying to decide what route to go with the turbo, I was really liking the precision 7675 LS turbo but also saw a lot of borg Warner love. I know borgs are cheap, simple, and can take a beating. So in terms of keeping some of the build budget friendly I bought a reman s475 with a twin scroll 1.32 exhaust housing off of eBay for $500. I ran a slightly smaller turbo in my old twin turbo diesel, but in this application it is much larger and harder to fit! This turbo will fit my current and future power goals, giving me room to grow into it. With the factory manifolds, twin scroll design and hopefully the right converter and gear choice spool on it will be decent. Just being a fun truck I wasn’t too concerned about it either. #ad

 

The truck sat for another year, and last spring I decided I could start building the hot side and mount the turbo. I planned on pulling the engine and going through it at some point and wanted to get the fab work out of the way before that while everything was still messy. I got some mandrel bent exhaust pipe and went to work. I bought a pre made T6 merge and turbo mount from monkey fab garage and built my passenger side transition first so it could hold the turbo up off the manifold and I could run the passenger side over to it. With the angles of the merge inlet I set the turbo in what I thought was the best place for room. I had to pie cut the “S” up into the collector on the driver side run, first time I had ever done that and after I finished I wished I would have done that on the passenger side to get the turbo set back slightly more. That may happen down the road but for now it’s staying. I mig welded all the connections and while not the most eye appealing it didn’t matter since heat wrap covers all things anyway. #ad
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I found the position for the wastegate on the drivers side pipe, it will be on the 90 just before the turbo and will exit out of the passenger fender behind the bumper. I also built a bracket off the frame to hold the turbo and relieve some stress of the hot side piping and manifold. It has a little moment to it so I will weld a piece of angle to it and bolt it down to the top of the frame to tie it in better. A passenger side wastegate has been ordered and I will wedge it in somewhere and have it merge into the fender exit from the drivers side outlet. #ad
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Nice work

 

Everything got all wrapped up and ready for its first heat cycle. I also built my own valve springs compressor that does 2 valves at a time. #ad
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Thank you

 

seeing that you are wrapping pipes already, dont forget you have to wastegate the passenger bank also.

 

yeah..about that haha. This was done last year and reached out to members here and was decided a second gate was needed. Luckily the short 90 is all that needs to come undone and then wrapped after. I was going to just get it going with one gate but glad I’m going this route. With the optimal angle on both gates I’m confident with 2 44mm gates I can control boost to a lower level and grow into more as I learn.